Tuesday, 29 November 2016

It is with immense regret, that I have to announce that Iwont be continuing, with what I hoped was going to be aseries of Wire Jewellery shows on the Craft Channel! I can't go into all the details, as I don't have any insiderknowledge, except to say that the Channel were very suddenlyfaced with their main investor pulling out and are now hopeful ingetting a new backer, so that they can resume with morejewellery shows! So until such time, ... I will have to gojob hunting again ... Any offers, will be gratefully considered!As life is a bit prickly this month (and we're heading intothe festive season) here's my latest Christmas necklace,involving making a spiky holly leaf!

Working directly from a 0.8mm spool of wire, place your round
nosed pliers about 1" (2.5cm) from the end, and form a curve.
Use your chain nosed pliers, to pinch the wires at the tip of the
curve. Then, form more curves with a longer one for the pointed
end of the leaf (as shown above).STEP 2

Repeat the same, to create the opposite side of the leaf frame.
Cut the wire from the spool leaving a tail projecting.STEP 3

To secure the frame, wrap one wire around the other.

STEP 4

Using your Whammer on a steel block, hammer only the outer
tips of the frame, plus the end of the projecting wrapped wire
(where arrow shown).

STEP 5

Cut approx. 6" of 0.8mm wire (or, at least enough to go down the
centre of the leaf with about 3" extra). Secure the wire around the
top, with one part becoming the central vein of the leaf and rest
projecting out at the top.STEP 6

*(If you wanted to thread beads onto this central wire, this is the
time to do it). Or, just secure the end around the top. As for the
projecting wire, use your Whammer to flatten on a steel block
(except for the very end tip).

STEP 7

Use the tips of your round nosed pliers to curl the hammered
wire at the top of the leaf into decorative curly coils.

STEP 8

Thread a bead onto the central stem and form a link at the
top of the bead.

That's your holly leaf made and it's now ready to put onto a chain!
However, I am going to give you, two projects in one ... so, read on ...

STEP 9

You can suspend the holly leaf from a flat bauble decoration:
create this, by wrapping 1mm wire around a circular mandrel,
leaving the ends to overlap by about 1cm-ish.STEP 10

Using the tips of your round nosed pliers, curl the very ends of
the circle into links and twist them 90 degrees to the frame.STEP 11

Decorate the inside of your 'bauble' decoration with spirals, or
threaded beads. Get creative and go freestyle! Here's what I did ...STEP 12

I created one main 'S' shape to fit my circular frame ...STEP 13

... and then kept adding and binding in more where necessary,
using 0.4mm wire to secure where they touched. You could use
more beads or coloured wires ... just fill and decorate the inside
of the circular frame.STEP 14

Finally, suspend it from a chain or ribbon (as a tree
decoration!) or, as a lovely long pendant necklace!

I hope you can use this inspiration to make your own
decorative, festive jewellery!

(Psssssst! Bookings for Wire Jewellery Workshops for all abilitiesmake perfect Xmas presents! Go on, treat yourself, especiallyif you live near Tonbridge in Kent!)www.wirejewellery.co.uk

Monday, 7 November 2016

The heat of the run-up to Christmas is now on!
Especially if you make to sell your jewellery and
also, if you want to start to plan to make your own
unique handmade gifts and decorations for family
and friends!

I've also got some very, very exciting
'breaking news': ....
I'm back demonstrating on TV with my own wire
jewellery show every month starting on18th NOVEMBERat 12pm and 5pmon (drum roll ...)THE CRAFT CHANNEL!!!Freeview 88, Sky 679, Freesat 818Or, you can watch it LIVE ONLINE (with a 7 day catchup!)

Sooooo.... get those Whammers out and ...."Let's get hammered!!!" (that's my new catchphrase!)*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

For this month, I thought I would share a popularproject, that I often teach in my Xmas workshops, so here goes:

STEP 1

Depending on the size of your decoration, cut a reasonable length of 0.8mm wire. I used about 12" (30cm). I placed my 8mm bail makerpliers at the centre of the length and pinched the wires just under therounded end, so that the wires met and joined together to form a completecircle. (*If you don't have bail makers, just use a pencil or pen as amandrel).

STEP 2

Using your chain nosed pliers, follow the wire structure shapingshown above, to form a short (neck) stem of double wires. Then bend each of the wires out at right angles (for the shoulders) and then backdown to form the (body) shape, curving it out slightly with your fingers.

STEP 3

Decide on the overall length of the 'body' and place your roundnosed pliers on each of the side wires and form a loop, bringingthe wires in towards each other.

STEP 4

Create a large open spiral out of one of the wiresat the base of the body frame. *Optional, If you like hammering, (and let's face it, who doesn't?!), you can hammer the spiral on a steel block and any other partof the structure to work harden it.

STEP 5

Use the remaining wire to secure around the base of
the frame, wrapping it around the other, to secure ...

STEP 6

Use any leftover projecting wire to form a small spiral, which can be flattened over the wrapped wire beneath.

STEP 7

Now the colourful fun begins! Choose a selection of beads to
wire into the space within the frame. Use 0.4mm wire and
connect with multiple wraps to decorate your angel!

STEP 8

Get Creative! Decorate the frame as you wish!
You can also bind in a 'head' bead and more beads at the base.
Each angel you make can have it's own particular colour
palette and design.

STEP 9

Now for the WINGS! Depending on how large you wish
to create them, wrap some 0.8mm wire twice around a circular
mandrel. My mandrel was approximately 1.5" (4cm).

STEP 10

Remove the 2 loops from the mandrel, and bind to secure,
leaving a tail of at least 6" (15cm). Place the tips of your
chain nosed pliers near to the opposite side of the join
and 'tweak' both wires to form an indent in both of
the wire circles.

STEP 11

Separate the indented circles out (like opening a book)
and form a large circular (halo) out of the projecting wire.
*I also recommend Whammer hammering the outer parts
of the wing frames to work harden them.

STEP 12

And, whilst you're partaking in Whammer therapy, give
the circular halo a good old bash on your block and
then use the dapping head on the Whammer, to create a
little extra texture and shimmer!
(Releasing all those negative vibes!!!)

STEP 13

There are many ways of decorating the wings: such as
beading them or wiring in scrolls ... but here's a quick
version that you can do:
Cut 2 x 1 metre lengths of 0.3mm wire (any colour of your choice)
and SCRUNCH and roll them in your hands (it's what I technically
call: 'meatballing'), to form 2 balls of wire.

STEP 14

Flatten and stretch out the balls of wire and with your fingers,
shape each of them to fit the inner space of the wings. Cut
a length of 0.3mm wire and 'sew' the scrunched wire in place around
the outer frame with small stitches.

STEP 15

Once the scrunched wire is in place and fills the wing spaces,
gently Whammer them with the nylon head to compress
together and work harden.

STEP 16

Now, all that's left to do is to connect the wings to the
body with some 0.4mm wire!

You can suspend the top of the halo from a handmade
chain and hook (as above) or a ribbon that blends in
with your bead selection!

I do hope that you've enjoyed this Angel Decoration Tutorial?
Just use your creativity to make your own versions
with different coloured beads and wires ... as the whim
takes you!

I used knitted wire, for the wings in this pink version and tissue
paper for my white and crystal version ...